Increase your decision-making ability with Force-Field Analysis

Many people struggle when they have to take tough decisions. Force-Field Analysis is a decision-making technique which helps you to make the decisions for your complex problems. The principle of Force-Field Analysis was developed by Kurt Lewin. This analysis technique comes under change management system. It analyzes the forces for and against a change, and it helps you communicate the reasoning behind your decision.

Before proposing the change we divide the force into two categories:

Driving Force

Restraining Force

Driving Force:

Driving Forces are basically a positive force for the change.

Restraining Force:

Restraining Forces are the obstacle to the change.

Steps for decision-making in Force-Field Analysis:

Defining the issue

Describe the current situation

Defining the change objective

Describe the desired situation

Identify where the current situation will go if no action is taken

Identifying the Driving Forces toward the desired situation

Identifying the Restraining Forces toward the desired situation

Discuss and interrogate all of the forces:

Are they valid?

Can they be changed?

Which are the critical ones?

Allocate a score to each of the Forces using a numerical scale e.g.
1 = extremely weak
10 = extremely strong

Chart the forces by listing (to strength scale) the driving

Forces on the left and restraining forces on the right. (See above image)

Determine whether change is viable and progress can occur

Discuss how the change can be affected by decreasing the strength of the restraining forces or by increasing the strength of driving forces.

Increase the driving forces or decrease the restraining forces may increase or decrease other forces or even create new forces

Above process will have you to take the decision on the valid grounds.

Basant is a full stack developer, software engineer and freelancer with broad and deep experience developing web applications. He has been working with web based tech companies in India for over 10 years, helping to build technology-based businesses from the ground up. He excels at programming back-end and front-end services in a variety of languages, and holds a Master’s degree in Computer Application.